Kay Burley put health minister Helen Whately on the spot over the ongoing problems with NHS salaries during a tense interview on Monday.
The Sky News presenter questioned the social care minister over whether the government would actual approve the pay review bodies’ recommended salary increase for the health sector workers – and Whately refused to be drawn.
She insisted that prime minister Rishi Sunak needed to be “responsible” with public finances, prompting pushback from Burley.
It comes after junior doctors announced another five days of strike action for July, in what is believed to be the longest single walkout in NHS history.
Public sector pay review bodies are expected to release their advised pay increase recommendations next month, possibly suggesting up to 6% increase for health workers.
So, amid reports Sunak is thinking of rejecting these pay recommendations, Burley said: “Pay review bodies take direction from government budgets, don’t they?
“So you tell them how much money is available and the prime minister chooses the chairman of the pay review boards?”
Whately replied saying she “doesn’t know the exact process of the appointment” for the board’s chair.
Burley hit back: “Well they do. The PM chooses the chairman of the pay review board.
“And then, the government tells the pay review boards what the upper limits are of the budgets and then they say, ‘OK, as a result, 6% for nurses and doctors, and 6.5% for teachers,’ or whatever it might be.”
Whately then launched into her own explanation of the pay review bodies, saying that there are plenty of these boards which then take evidence from the workforce unions, the rates of pay in the wider market and inflation, and they come back with recommendations.
She concluded: “We have to make responsible decisions as government.”
But Burley asked: “What’s the point in having [pay review bodies] if you ignore them?”
The minister replied: “I didn’t for a moment say that. Let’s be clear, we take the advice and recommendations from the pay review bodies.
“But you’ll understand that the government has to be responsible with the public’s finances.”
Whately echoed Sunak’s promise that bringing down inflation is a priority, and said that the job of government and prime minister is to make “tough decisions” – while adding that she was not going to “pre-empt” what the government would do next.
The Sky News presenter pushed back again: “When your colleagues – and indeed you – have sat there previously, and we’ve talked about percentage pay increase, you’ve always said we have to abide by what the independent pay review bodies suggest to us.”
“I don’t believe that is what we’ve always said,” Whately replied.
Burley said: “Even though the chairman is chosen by the prime minister and you tell them what the budgets are? What’s the point?”
“The point is to have a process where you have expert advice on recommendations on pay, but the government has to make decisions in the round,” the minister claimed.
The British Medical Association said its union members have no choice but to strike because the government’s 5% pay offer is below the 35% they’re asking for.
The government claims it made a “fair and reasonable opening offer” in pay negotiations and that talks ended when more strikes were announced.